The distribution of bedding plants, small woody plants, potted plants, and other nursery stock begins at the grower. Growers of such horticultural items, as any supplier of goods, need to cost effectively get their goods to market without sacrificing product quality.
Horticultural and agricultural items such as trees, shrubs, bushes, vines etc. are transported in a potted condition. Although it is not unheard of to transport plants in ten gallon or greater capacity planters, one to seven gallon planters are most commonly encountered. Such potted plants were commonly "floor loaded" inside cargo trucks (i.e., hand loaded to form a staggeredly stacked arrangement whereby the foliage of each plant is pushed aside or otherwise manipulated so as to accommodate a successive layer of potted plants positioned thereover). In addition to being labor intensive, this method caused a great deal of plant damage. Presently, large metal racks are now widely used for transporting potted plants. The potted plants are loaded into the bulky, heavy metal racks which are then placed into trucks and transported to garden supply stores or other retail outlets. Upon arrival at the retail outlet, the plants are typically unloaded and displayed in the cumbersome transport racks, or loaded into a more consumer appealing point of display rack.
Various types and configurations of paperboard or corrugated paperboard shipping containers have been developed in attempts to reduce the reliance on expensive and inconvenient metal shipping racks. Unfortunately, known paperboard containers have several shortcomings. For instance, a majority of such containers are designed for holding nursery flats, and as such are ill suited for transporting the larger, taller, bulkier and substantially heavier potted plants. Furthermore, known transport containers are little more than fully enclosed cardboard boxes, generally providing a poor environment (i.e., dark, cramped, no or low air circulation etc.) for the storage of a product which is especially sensitive to its environment, and whose saleability is greatly a function of appearance and health. Another disadvantage associated with paperboard shipping containers is that they are usually relatively difficult, thus expensive, to assemble, often times requiring glue, tape, staples etc. to maintain the origami-like folds frequently present in such box constructions.
As a testament to their overall shortcomings, it is still common to transport potted plants using the cumbersome and heavy metal racks in lieu of or in addition to paperboard shipping containers, in part because the paperboard containers are usually not strong enough to allow the stacking of containers one on top of another. In addition to handling issues, the reality is that the metal racks comprise a substantial portion of the total shipped weight sent by a grower, and therefore unavoidably represent a significant cost of the shipped product. Furthermore, the metal racks must be returned empty (i.e., "dead headed") to the growers before they can be used again, which results in substantial return shipping costs, costs which are again ultimately reflected in the price of the product in the market place.